[Robert_S]

Morning all 

Newbie question: From a purely economic angle, is it really worth growing garlic? Three quid for three bulbs seems a bit stiff, and that gives you what? £6 worth of garlic at shop prices? Slightly more? If they grow succesfully and don't get white rot / nicked by scallies...

[arugula]

I think its worth it, I pay generally ninety five pence per large bulb in the shops over the time I don't have any homegrown useable garlic. I need to buy at least one of these every week. I don't know where your figures come from, but I'd reckon on getting a lot more than 6 pounds worth from three bulbs, by growing it at home.

 

[Robert_S]

I was thinking of the small-medium sized bulbs we normally get...20-30p each from the supermarket. We'd generally get through one or two of those a week.

I would like to grow my own garlic, and I probably will anyway, but I suppose it's just wanting to know whether I'm doing it just for the love of growing my own food or whether it is actually going to savea few quid doing it.

[Kimberley04]

Personally, I think it's worth it.  I have gotten more garlic out of the ground in the past couple of weeks than i can probably eat in the next six months!!

I did do one full bed of it though, and i think next year, I'll do half a bed!

[arugula]

I'm thinking you should get a fair few bulbs from the cloves of three planted bulbs, so why not try it and see what you think of the results? I don't buy the little ones in the supermarket if possible - too fiddly. 

[kosh42|EFG]

Not forgetting that once you've grown it, you can keep one or two bulbs to plant the cloves from next year, etc, so it's only really a cost in the first year...

[Robert_S]

Fair comments all, I think I will definitely give it a go.  Plus I don't like the idea of too many empty beds over the winter.

Am definitely going to try autumn sown onions too.

[Lardman]

Theres no question that home grown tastes better and certainly the music variety produces much larger cloves than the nasty things from the supermarket.

But this year Im struggling to justify it too. 8 Months in the ground, wrestling with rot and leaf miner for 28 bulbs of which 3 were usable it wasn't a productive use of my very limited resources.

If you didn't grow the garlic what would you grow instead?

[Dominic]

I plant supermarket garlic and I've never had a problem with it.
It needs well drained soil remember.

[mumofstig]

I plant supermarket garlic and I've never had a problem with it.
It needs well drained soil remember.

Just remember that as supermarket garlic is not certified as disease free .....you may be planting onion white rot as well as the seed

[compostqueen]

The supermarket stuff is probably Chinese, as they grow more than anyone else for commercial sale than anyone else apparently.  It's not particularly tasty though.

I don't save any bulbs for replanting as I want them to be free of disease to ensure a trouble free crop. I eat all mine anyway    It is well worth growing if you really like good garlic.  I grow a range of different types, Chesnok, Purple Modovan, Lautrec etc. Some are French or Spanish in origin and some are Eastern European but they are all grown on the Isle of Wight at the Garlic Farm.  Usually each fat bulb will break down into about 17 more separate cloves for planting.  I am harvesting mine now and all of them except one have been absolutely fine.  Harvesting Solent Wight at the moment which is a strong tasting one but my next harvest will be Chesnok

We can all buy veg from the shops but that's ok if you generally aren't bothered about choice and are prepared to buy what the supermarket wants you to have. Stuff that. I want choice garlic, the best plums (not available in a supermarket). Growing your own opens up a whole new world of choice about what you eat. Once you start there's no going back.  Proof positive of that is the greengage.  Slurp       Oh and garlic of course

[Robert_S]

Usually each fat bulb will break down into about 17 more separate cloves for planting. 

Oh I didn't realise you got that many...that makes it an easy decision then   

[Trillium]

I was just going to add that. New gardeners don't realize you must separate the whole garlic head and plant out the individual cloves. 17 is a bit optimistic, but you'd get at least 8 or more per head.

And yes, the flavor is worth it. Plus you can buy varieties with different 'heat' levels and be sure that the garlic is disease free, a problem causing many related problems in the UK.

Not only is supermarket garlic usually foreign (which often doesn't grow well in one's own area) but it's usually a different type that might also not grow as well since daylight hours affect the softneck types. UK garlic would be hardneck types that do better. Some folk have luck with softneck types but not in the cooler, northern regions.

[prikay]

Compostqueen - so where do you get your garlic from?

[Fisherman]

£4.95 for 2 bulbs of Solent Wight planted in spring and harvested this last week which are now drying in a shady place in the greenhouse. 30 bulbs in total which makes economical sense to me

Once planted they don't need much attention other than weeding.

Bad experience last year with over wintered garlic which got grey mildew so won't be bothering with over wintered varieties again as I cant see the point. Mildew spread to all the other spring planted allium's